The Mirror Of Erised
by katie-elise
Summary: Remus stumbles upon the Mirror of Erised, but is he ready to acknowledge his deepest desire? Sirius/Remus Now with Sirius' side of the story!
1. Chapter 1

(A/N): My intention is for this to be a two-parter...it's the first Harry Potter fic I've ever written! Woo! So of course it HAD to be Remus/Sirius...because I've been on a kick of that, lately, teehee. Anyway. Hope you enjoy it!

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Remus sat cross-legged on the cold cement floor with his head in his hands, fingers gently pulling at his wavy, brownish hair. He heaved a sigh and tried to focus on the strange wrinkled patterns of his black dress pants. All that time he'd spent in the dormitory carefully ironing and spray-starching his dress robes into pristine order had gone to waste.

It had been a lengthier task than usual, since James, Sirius, and Peter had all decided to take unanimous objection to Remus' ironing things. "I don't see why you can't just magic things into order", James had suggested, ignoring Remus' patented 'Oh, really?' look as he failed spectacularly to neaten his own robes with a simple charm. "I happen to like ironing. I think it's calming. Peter, could you hand me the spray starch? It's in my trunk over there". "Spray-what?" was Sirius' (rather garbled, owing to his face being planted in his pillow) contribution to the conversation.

Remus had sighed and delved into an explanation of how one sprayed liquid starch on one's pants before ironing to ensure a nice, stiff crease down the middle of the leg…only to have his face met with Sirius' now air-borne pillow as the other boy's patience wore thin. Now devoid of his pillow, Sirius had simply curled further into his blankets until all that was visible was a handful of silky black hair splashed against the white sheets like ink. A gentle, not unpleasant kind of snore could soon be heard emitting from his general area.

Not to be dissuaded, Remus had finished pressing his dress robes, complete with the pants and crisp white dress shirt to go underneath them. Selecting a red and gold tie that matched Gryffindor's colors, as well as accenting the veins of color in his hair, he tied it in an elegant half-Windsor. On the other side of the room James could be seen struggling with his own tie, whist Wormtail had opted for the pre-tied, slip on version. Remus couldn't quite suppress a shudder at the heinous, violent shade of puce that fairly glowed from Wormtail's tie. Horrendous. He himself might have to make do with older, patched things, but at least they would be neat and clean, and avoid blinding any unsuspecting first years.

"Do you think Lily'll like this color?"

Remus and Peter rolled their eyes and heaved a collective sigh. Sirius, evidently having returned to the realms of the living, searched in vain for his already-used pillow so he could chuck it at James' head.

"James, mate, Lily Evans may well like whatever bloody color your tie happens to be at this point in time, but seeing you wearing it is sure to cement her sudden and undivided loathing of said shade, just like she hates the rest of you".

"Awww, don't say that, Padfoot!" James grinned, not to be deterred. He flopped haphazardly onto Sirius' bed, half on top of his friend. He was greeted with a distinctly gruff "Ger' OFF", as Sirius rolled into a sitting position, effectively dumping James on the ground. Prongs grinned from his position on the floor, running a hand through his untamable mane of hair.

"Oy!" Peter exclaimed, suddenly noticing the time, "we'll be late for the feast! Come on, men, UP!" and he pulled James forcefully into an upright position. Sirius merely groaned and tunneled his fingers into his thick, perfect-even-after-rolling-out-of-bed locks. Remus saw James pat his own hair and frown a bit, and couldn't help but smile.

"You two go on, I'll stay here and get Padfoot presentable (" 'm always 'resentable!") " Remus stated calmly, basking in the gratifying smiles Peter and James flashed him before racing out of the dorms and down towards the Great Hall. Remus loved Dumbeldore dearly, but the man's insistence that they all attend a Morning Banquet to welcome the new Herbology professor was…well, it would have been better with the omission of the word 'Morning'.

Still, it was quite the event, as the last Herbology professor's demise had been so…gruesome and all…Remus gave a small, involuntary shudder and repeated his vow to never again go near any genus of Voracious Slorgflower.

Breaking out of some truly disturbing images, Remus went over and sat gingerly (so as not to wrinkle his newly-pressed robes) next to Sirius on the edge of his bed. Sirius immediately laid his silky black head on Remus' shoulder, nuzzling into his robes a bit as Remus idly patted his head.

"You know, you're going to have to get over her sometime" Remus said gently unable to stop a small, mildly sad smile as Sirius groaned and wrapped his arms around Remus' waist in an awkwardly construed hug. "I know…" he whispered, staring blankly ahead for a moment before suddenly jumping up and twirling around to grace Remus with an old Hollywood, movie star smile. "So I might as well start by looking ravishing!", and with that he disappeared into the bathroom, where he'd stored all his clothes since second year. He claimed he got naked in the bathroom anyway, so why not speed up the process and have a new change of clothes always available in that space, as well?

Remus shook his head in wonder. Sirius had been really broken up over his latest fling coming to an end…he was much more serious about the girls he made-out with than anyone but Remus, and possibly James, gave him credit for. He'd really been into what's-her-name, and although it'd been several weeks, going on a month, really, since they called it quits, he hadn't gone after anyone new. Not that Remus really minded. He was, to his own annoyance, rather protective of Sirius. Perhaps it was because he was always the one who Sirius ran to for comfort after a bad break-up (although he rather liked comforting Sirius), or maybe it was that he felt very few people understood, much less deserved, Sirius…or it could just be that when Sirius had a girlfriend it meant he spent less time with his fellow Marauders.

Or…it could be…Remus groaned, not in emotional pain as Sirius had earlier, but in head-splitting confusion.

He pushed back his hair, closing his eyes and counting out 5 deep, slow breaths as he steeled himself. "It's just a mirror…it's just a mirror", he muttered under his breath, and finally flicked his eyes up to meet their reflection in the big, gilded mirror standing uncovered in front of him.

He'd been trotting down one of Hogwarts' many corridors on his way to the Great Hall, Sirius looking, as he'd promised, ravishing beside him in top-of-the-line dress robes and a grey silk tie that matched his eyes and probably cost more than Remus' entire wardrobe put together and multiplied by ten.

It was then, already several minutes late despite Sirius taking the least time to dress of anyone Remus had ever known, Peter included, that Remus realized he hadn't used to toilet all morning. Looking around in disbelief, he felt relief sweep through him as he spotted a bathroom door up ahead.

"You go on without me" Remus panted to Sirius (he really should go jogging more, he thought to himself) indicating the bathroom with a rueful grin. Sirius grinned back and saluted him "Don't take all day, mate! I'll save you some sausage".

Remus had, as expected, found a toilet inside the room. The trouble came when he went to leave. The door, which had swung open with ease when he entered, seemed to have gotten it into its mind to be obstinate about letting him out. After trying several simple charms, Remus, brows knit together in frustration, spun around to confront his little prison…and found himself facing a large, entirely gray room with vaulted ceilings. The only object in the room, besides Remus himself, as a large object, perhaps seven feet tall, covered in a smooth gray sheet.

Rolling his eyes, Remus wondered what the Room of Requirement wanted from him this time. It had happened to him before that he'd needed a bathroom, found the Room of Requirement, relieved himself, subsequently needed something other than a bathroom, and found himself surrounded, by, say, every book ever written on using llama's wool in horticultural spells. It seemed the room changed itself to suit its occupants' needs without them having to leave and re-enter. However, in previous times the room had always allowed him to leave.

Remus was rather peeved that the Room had chosen this particular moment in time to trap him, but he figured he might as well do what it wanted, seeing as it didn't seem inclined to let him out any time in the near future. So, he walked over to the object, took a hearty handful of the smooth, gray fabric, and tugged…

Now, looking up at his reflection for what felt like the millionth time in the past hour, Remus recalled his initial reaction…confusion, underscored by a gut-wrenching fear that he knew exactly what this meant…

Intricate gold metal-work formed the frame of the huge mirror, designs curling and meandering upward to a little plaque at the top on which the mirror's name, Erised, was engraved in an elegant script. Remus knew the legend of the Mirror of Erised; it showed whoever looked in it their heart's deepest desire, reflected back at them. There was danger in the Mirror; men and women alike became obsessed by it, wasted away sitting in front of it. Remus wasn't worried about that. He already knew what the mirror would show. Or at least, he'd thought so. As soon as he pulled the draping off and realized what the mirror was, he'd assumed that, when he looked in it, he would see himself, and only himself. However, the scars that marred his face…the bit of gold in his eyes that indicated the wolf…would all be gone. But that wasn't what he'd seen.

Remus shook his head, but didn't look away from the image in the glass. He could see his face, even from his angle sitting on the floor, his eyes a mixture of despair and resignation.

The image of Sirius Black, hair glossy and eyes bright, yet concerned, reached out with long elegant fingers to tuck a stray piece of Remus' hair behind his ear. He leaned over Remus' shoulder, his hand moving to cup the werewolf's cheek and turn his head so that their eyes met. Remus could see Sirius' lips forming the words 'What's wrong, love?', as he leaned in to apply a gentle, chaste kiss to reflection-Remus' lips.

At first Remus had rejected the image. This had to be someone's idea of a cruel joke. But…slowly, as he watched the image of Sirius kissing him, coddling him…_loving_ him, the truth sank in. What he wanted, more than anything in the world, his heart's desire, was for Sirius to love him. For them to have a relationship, to be happy and grow old together.

A tear slipped out of Remus' overly full eyes and charted a path down to his chin, much to mirror-Sirius' concern. Remus tore his gaze away, wiping the tear from his face with a perfunctory motion. It may be his heart's desire, but that didn't mean it could ever come true. He knew Sirius almost better than he knew himself, and although Padfoot loved him like a brother, it could never be anything more.

Remus pulled at his now-wrinkled pants, sighing and straightening them with a quick charm, despite his dislike of using magic when good-old-fashioned work would do just fine. He tilted his head back until the tears had dried, shook himself, and stepped out of the Room of Requirement (he supposed it was of significance that it let him leave), and went to face James, Peter, and…Sirius, and start a life-long game of pretending that nothing had changed.

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If you review, you get an imaginary 5-minute make-out session with Sirius! XD

Also, even though I hate people who require a certain number of reviews before they will put up a new chapter, it should be acknowledged that I don't like to continue stories if I don't think anyone is reading them. So lemme know!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for all of the lovely reviews! They totally inspired me to finish this...even though they make me nervous! (I'm always afraid someone will hate it, haha). That being said, this chapter has a bit of a different feel from the last one, I think...I really felt like writing about why _Remus_ is attractive, since usually it's emphasized how gorgeous Sirius is. I mean, Remus is drop-dead sexy! He needs more attention. ;) So...I actually kind of really like this. Sorry if it's shorter than the last one, and for any spelling/grammar/continuity mistakes (I don't have a beta-reader), but I'm leaving for Japan on Monday (to study abroad doing an internship! ! EXCITED!) so I probably wouldn't have finished this if I put it off any longer.

Oh, and look out for a few Remus/Sirius one-shots coming your way, as I tend to have a hard time adjusting to new places when I travel, and will probably write in a bit of my free time to help de-stress.

Love you lovely reviewers, and favorite-ers, and watchers, and yes, even the lurkers. ;)

Part 2

Remus, Sirius contemplates, may have the divine honor of being the most utterly sensually appealing boy in residence at Hogwarts. Now, he knows that he, being a Black (they're known for their stunning good-looks almost as much as their generally ill-tempered demeanor) is perhaps equal in beauty to a particularly nice statue of Adonis. But therein lies the rub.

Sirius, and not even Peter would contest this, has cheekbones that could cut diamond, eyes that rival his namesake star, hair like ebony, teeth like ivory, lips that look as though they've been carved by an ancient Master from the finest pink marble, and the unspeakable good fortune of having inherited his grandfather's stunningly perfect nose.

Of course, all of these factors combine to make him the kind of guy who, when he walks into a room, immediately causes all the women to collapse in a massive swoon.

But Sirius' beauty is also cold, just like the marble statues that line the East wing of his family home. He's akin to an ice sculpture; the Milky Way on a winter's night.

Remus, on the other hand…

Sirius takes a moment to look up from his over-flowing bowl of Magic Charms to study the boy across from him, effectively ignoring the Herbology professor's droning voice (as if he wasn't already bad enough in Herbology…he doesn't look forward to inevitably falling asleep in that class. Peter will prod him with his wand until he wakes up, and Peter prods HARD.)

The soft August morning sun is pouring into the Great Hall, making Remus' hair practically ignite with warmth and color. It's lush and soft, the kind of hair that just begs to have an entire hand buried and tangled in its depths. Natural blonde highlights from a summer spent hiking the countryside near his home gleam gold, while ruddy auburn lowlights provide depth. Gentle waves and curls hug Remus' neck, one in particular curling around the shell of his ear.

Even Remus' ears, Sirius contemplates, are sensual. His skin is like honey left too long near the stove; molten, warm and invitingly sweet. His eyes reflect the same kind of color palette, light brown but with amber bursts near the center. His nose is a fraction too long, and his face is split by a light pink, slightly raised scar that gives him a pleasant kind of asymmetry. It also hints at mystery, a little bit of danger to provide an edge so the sweetness doesn't overwhelm.

The way Remus carries himself is appealing, too. On the surface he seems meek, shy, the kind of boy who would gasp and blush and quiver. But under that, there's strength and confidence, built from successfully enduring endless ages of snapping bones and exquisite agony.

Really, though, Sirius thinks to himself as he swishes his spoon around the milk in his now-empty cereal bowl, even if Remus was utterly devoid of all of the above, he would still give every boy (and a goodly portion of the girls) a run for their money on his lips alone.

It helps that Remus has chosen, on this particular morning, to eat a peach. Ahh, the peach, most sexual of fruits. With its soft breakable skin, tender flesh, and excessively juicy nectar. The young werewolf's lips almost match the peach in color, being a warmer shade of pink than Sirius' own. His lower lip is full, almost luscious, and balanced by an impeccably delicious upper, complete with an intriguing little scar right at the top. That soft mouth, on all occasions, looks positively bruise-able. Which is making it extra hard for Sirius to tear his eyes away as Remus sinks his teeth into the peach held in his long, well formed hands, gorgeous lips pressing against the skin and sucking at the juice and flesh inside. They come away with a little _slurp, _swollen, dripping with nectar that a pink tongue slowly swipes away, savoring the flavor.

Sirius swallows, hard, and looks down and his hand, which is white from clenching his spoon so hard.

He's always been able to admire, in a generic way, the fact that Remus Lupin is a sexy beast. But only since a few weeks ago has it become an issue of restraint.

It's all that damn Mirror's fault, when you come right down to it.

Sirius discovered the Room of Requirement in his Second year, when he desperately needed a place to hide from Filch's cat (don't laugh; that bloody cat is terrifying, the way it looks at you like a human). Since then, every so often when he's wandering around the castle bored and alone(not terribly often, but it _does_ happen), the Room of Requirement sees fit to appear and present him with the Mirror of Erised. Sirius is so used to it by now, he hardly even blinks. He never told any of the other Marauders because a) it was hard to prove such a thing existed when it only appeared sporadically and b) he was…afraid, both of revealing himself and learning his friend's deepest wishes. He's seen his heart's desire (a loving, warm family) reflected back at him for as long as he can remember, and is embarrassed that it's not something, well, _grander_.

Although, given the current circumstances, he would be just fine with the reflection going back to what it used to be.

It had been just a few nights after the full moon, and Sirius had been trying to take his mind off the way Remus had looked, pale and huddled on the hospital bed, with some good old-fashioned snogging. He'd dragged his current fling, Marly (also known as Tarty Marly), down an abandoned corridor looking for a deserted classroom and happened upon the Room of Requirement. They'd somehow managed to get inside without breaking their mouths apart, a feat Sirius still felt vaguely proud of.

Of course, the Room chose this instance to present him yet again with the Mirror of Erised. Marly, seeing the thing standing in the middle of the room, had whispered something kinky about being able to see themselves in a mirror that Sirius' libido quite agreed with. He figured that, with two people in the Mirror, it wouldn't show anything. How could it show two heart's desires at once?

So he'd started snogging Marly, glancing over at the Mirror to see if it looked quite as sexy as it felt, and nearly fell over in a dead faint. Marly looked up in concern as his lips disconnected from hers with an audible _pop_! Quickly recovering, Sirius smiled and began kissing her again, although his mind wasn't exactly concentrating, and his eyes were practically glued to the Mirror.

He was reflected quite as he should be; embracing someone, obviously snogging them. However, where Marly _should_ have been, in his arms snogging him back, was Remus Lupin. Doing precisely what Marly was doing in real life. It also bore noting that, besides a few decorative, appealing ones, Moony's scars had disappeared.

Somewhere, in the time since Sirius had last looked in the Mirror Of Erised, his heart's desire had changed from having a loving family to having Remus, no longer a werewolf, doing unspeakable things to Sirius with his lips.

Sirius finished his snog with Marly, but she could tell his heart wasn't in it. They hadn't gotten together since.

And now…Remus and that _damned bloody peach_.

Deciding that he needs a bit of space to cool down, Sirius distractedly excuses himself from the breakfast table, ignoring James's questioning glance, Remus' concerned frown, and Peter's loud chewing. He wanders down halls, taking left turns only, because today feels like a left turn kind of day.

And then, suddenly, he rounds a corner and there it is. The Room of Requirement. Sighing, Sirius decides 'why not?'. It's already been a hell of a day, what with that peach and all…can't hurt to watch Remus snog him a bit more. Maybe, this time, they'll just cuddle. That'd be nice. Sirius then smacks himself in the forehead, realizing that he's looking forward to his _reflection_ getting some Remus-snuggles.

He's been sitting in front of the Mirror for over 15 minutes, watching reflection-Remus stroke reflection-Sirius' hair…kiss his temples…gently tap his shoulder…wait. Sirius furrows his brow. That can't be right…it seems as if he felt that one. There it is again.

It's then that he turns, sees real-Remus standing behind him, hand poised to tap him a third time. Sirius promptly gives a little yelp, eyes wide, and falls over.

When Sirius' brain catches up, Remus is on the floor with him, helping him sit back up. His eyes are crinkled with humor, and his breath is coming out in little huffs of laughter. His arms are wrapped around Sirius, holding him upright, and their legs are tangled in a mess on the floor. Sirius' brain mentions that Remus looks like a god, like the Prince of Autumn and Hot Chocolate and Down Comforters.

Suddenly, the humor in Remus' eyes in dampened. Sirius can tell, because they're only a handful of inches from his own. Remus' breaths are no longer laughing, but slow and shallow. Sirius can feel them ghosting from Moony's exquisite lips and alighting on his own pale mouth.

Then he can't feel them anymore, because they've both stopped breathing. Sirius' admittedly lush lashes flutter and close, tickling Remus' cheek. The other boy gasps into Sirius' mouth (evidently he _does _gasp and blush and quiver, after all), before pushing forward with a happy little growl, plush lips moving against Sirius' carved ones, eating him up just like a peach.

Sirius somehow manages to open his eyes and glance to the right, because he just has to know…Remus can feel Sirius' smile on his lips, and returns it with one of his own.

And, for at least a little while, it is discovered that two people can see exactly the same thing in the Mirror of Erised.

(Even more unusual, the Mirror experiences the rare privilege of reflecting reality).

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Peace, Hot-werewolf-lovin', and Reviews!


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